SmartAboutCollege
Parents
Consider yourselves a GPS for your child on their journey to postsecondary education. You can provide the direction necessary to help ensure a successful trip.
When your child asks why they should go to college, tell them…
Someone with a bachelor's degree will earn about $1.6 million more over their lifetime than someone with only a high school diploma. (The Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce)
By 2018, 63 percent of job openings will require workers with at least some college education. (The Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce)
While a college degree doesn't offer complete protection against unemployment, it does provide a definite advantage. Workers with college degrees had the lowest unemployment rates during the recent recession. (The Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce)
Parents’ Checklist
While a significant portion of the responsibility for getting to college falls on the shoulders of the students, parents can help their children by following this action plan:
- Talk with financial professionals about college saving strategies. Student Assistance Foundation has a campus outreach office near you with staff available to help you evaluate your options. Outreach offices
- Establish a college savings account for each child. Do this as soon as possible — the longer your money is invested, the more it will earn for your child’s education (2.5 percent of income).
- The Montana Family Education Savings Program is a tax-free, 529 plan that allows families to save for future college tuition, fees, room and board. For more information, visit montana.collegesavings.com.
- Maintain a file of each child’s awards, athletic and volunteer activities and work projects.
- Start developing financial knowledge in children early. Develop budgetary guidelines for your child.
- Monitor education spending programs in the news and keep up with current trends.
- In your child’s junior year in high school, estimate the amount of financial aid he or she can expect to receive by using the FAFSA4Caster.
- Help your student complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) at FAFSA.gov after Jan. 1 and before the school’s priority deadline in their senior year. File your taxes as soon as possible to speed the FAFSA process for your student. Attend College Goal Montana for free, one-on-one help filling out the FAFSA!
- You and your student will need a PIN for the FAFSA — PIN.ed.gov.
- Encourage your student to apply for aid from the likely schools of attendance. Search and apply for as many scholarships and grants as possible at free websites like fastweb.com.
- Borrow only what your student needs for college and help students to understand the importance of money management. Take out federal loans before considering private loans.
- Attend financial aid nights at your child’s high school. They provide the perfect opportunity to learn about what you and your student need to do to make the transition from high school to postsecondary education.
- Understand that your child is generally considered your dependent for financial aid purposes until the are 24 years old.